Cats In The Cradle
by X Prodigy
Summary: After an argument with Valeria, Sherufanir makes a bet that she can make Ladius fall in love with her before the eve of the final battle. With a feisty fox and a jealous childhood friend gunning for him, can Ladius make it to the end of the week?


Cats in the Cradle

The Fox's Gamble

The night's kiss was cool, and sent a shiver down the spine of the mountain pass. The moon was glistening in the sky as if it were a silver pendant hanging from a black sheet, its glow giving little light onto the dark land below.

They were barely ten miles away from where the imminent battle between Furyum Daryl and Grugund would take place. While the latter had more firepower and tactical superiority, the former had something that no one else had.

Demons.

The dark forces had slowly been growing around the continent of Graccea, and very soon they would rise in all their ugly glory in order to ensure the battle was won. Luckily, the Grugund Kingdom had the allied power of Fensarril, who were by no means pushovers.

And at the front of this united force, were the group who had spent their daily lives hacking away at demons and pushing the dark forces back. Leading them was the second generation Spirit Vessel, Ladius, born of a human father and a syrium mother. His father, Leonhardt, had defeated the dark forces over in a previous continent, and had sacrificed himself to seal their power away forever. The time was coming when Ladius knew he would have to make the same sacrifice, he would have to seal his soul away in order to prevent the darkness from spreading, and bear an offspring to carry on the war against the vile forces.

Following him, were some of the greatest (and strangest) warriors he had ever encountered. Some had raised him since birth and had fought alongside his father; while others were people he had recently encountered and had decided to join the war for their own reasons.

Mere days away from the battle...needless to say tensions were high.

"How dare you!" Valeria howled.

They had set up camp on one of the mountain's summits; from there they could trek through to the last remaining town, one last chance to rest. That is, if they managed to calm down the former general of Grugund...

The two women were barely a metre apart, and the hatred radiating between them was enough to make even the dark forces scurry back into the shadows.

Valeria angrily brushed a few strands of crimson red hair out of her eyes, her teeth clenching together as if she were about to explode. Her trademark spear was latched onto her right hand, hungry for blood, demonic or otherwise.

"How dare you suggest that this catastrophe is Grugund's fault!" she yelled at her counterpart, who remained composed despite the general's tendency to solve her problems with violence.

Valeria's immense ranting had earned the attention of Ladius, who slowly walked into the fray to see who she was arguing with this time, and wasn't at all surprised to find the culprit. He refrained himself for a second, and soaked in her appearance.

She was a very elegant figure, dressed in black silk gloves that reach partway to her shoulders as well as long boots coloured a deep oily black, with the added touched of a long black and purple dress that fell to her feet. It wasn't armour as such, in fact it looked like something only the very rich (or gutsy) would where, however the figure was so fast in battle that most of the time the enemy didn't even have a chance to blink before they realised they were missing a limb. However, the main feature that caught most people off guard wasn't her attire, but her beauty.

It wasn't opinion, it was fact; she was beautiful. Her skin was as rich as cream with dark eyes that changed depending on the time of day. At dawn they appeared to be a hazel brown, while in the blanket of night they were a radiant amethyst purple. Blonde hair fell to her shoulders, several strands flailing to the sides, giving her almost a wild look. The most noticeable thing was the pair of fox-like ears that hung precariously atop her head, as well as the matching tail that fell to the back of her legs.

Sherufanir feigned a yawn, which only infuriated the red-haired general even more.

"Look Val-"

"Don't call me that!"

"The point remains they started this mess when they began a massive manhunt for Ladius, then by invading Fensarril-"

"That still doesn't sway any blame for the demons-!"

"All the while the demons were gathering strength and were preparing to destroy all life on the continent. If your leaders weren't too busy playing politics the dirty way, then Graccea would have stood a fighting chance of stomping the demon threat before it started" the neocolom lectured, not once losing her cool.

"B-But how were we supposed to know-?" Valeria barked back, going red in the face.

"They were at your front doorstep, you only had to walk past the mountains to see their army was growing, but I guess that doesn't really matter; Grugund still wouldn't have aided in the resistance" Sherufanir retorted.

"What? Of course we would have!" Valeria snapped back.

"Really? In my opinion they would have slandered it as impossible and gone on with their war games, they wouldn't have noticed until the dark forces were breaking down their doors" she replied, inspecting her nails, as if bored by the argument.

"Hmph! An opinion of yours is of no great significance!" Valeria remarked venomously, it was quite clear now that her stance had changed to that of a combat style, the one she used when preparing to impale enemies through the chest.

"Oh really?" Sherufanir answered back, in feigned insult.

"That's right! Grugund may have had its share of corruption and deceitful politicians, but overall its the most powerful and influential kingdom in Graccea!" Valeria spat back.

"So what?" the neocolom replied, brushing a few strands of sun-blonde hair out of her eyes, which by the moon's light had become an intoxicating purple.

"If there was any movement, any threat of enemy invasion, Grugund would be the first to know and it would act upon it. How else to you expect we came to know of your rebellion?" Valeria retorted, a small smile on her lips.

Sherufanir was silent, and for a few moment it looked like she was about to cross the border into rage instead of seriousness. However, her playful smiled returned, and she instead turned to Ladius.

"Lucky guess" she smiled.

That was when Valeria openly brandished her spear, lowering the blade so that it closed the gap between them, but was not directly aimed at the hybrid. Her eyes were full of hate, which was to be expected, as she didn't take kindly to insults or to banter of any kind. Sherufanir wasn't intimated in the slightest.

"First, our rebellion was made of no more than a hand full of villages that joined together because of Grugund's refusal to lower the tax percentages. Second, we would have remained unnoticed if it weren't for Ladius" Sherufanir retorted.

"What? What does Ladius have to do with-"

"If you knew exactly where we were stationed, then you would have sent an entire execution squad after us, in the end you had to rely on your handsome prince to find us and incarcerate us. Which, by the way, he did very gracefully" she smirked, sending the crimson-armoured warrior a wink which did not go unnoticed.

"Sorry Val, but you're a terrible general"

A moment of raw passion, a moment of pure rage, a moment of no thought except to silence that which had insulted her pride, all she could do was charge forward and let her weapon leave it's mark. There was a deafening impact where steel met steel, though it wasn't the shattering of Sherufanir's breastplate, but instead the scarlet greave that belonged to the former heir of House Busser.

"Enough" Ladius spoke out, struggling to bloke the weight of the weapon.

"Valeria, you should know better than this, you can't give into a blind rage so easily" the son of Leonhardt lectured.

"B-But-"

"It's true, Grugund fell into disarray because of corruption, and it remains in a state which I fear cannot be salvaged so easily, even after this battle" he continued, forcing the weapon back, so much that Valeria stumbled backwards slightly.

"And I agree with what Sherufanir said, the taxes were too high, some villages were starving to death and desperately needed relief from the policies brought forward by corrupt ministers. I know how great Grugund once was, and what can still become...but there's no denying that the kingdom of Grugund has fallen into decay" he concluded.

Valeria was momentarily stunned, fighting to find the right words to yell back at him, but they didn't seem to come out.

"Sherufanir, that doesn't mean you should tease her" Ladius said, turning his attention to the smiling neocolom.

"Sorry Ladius, I'll be more considerate of Val's feelings in the near future" she replied.

Ladius sighed, knowing that both women wouldn't surrender that easily. He conceded with his small victory, though he didn't know how long it would last. He then turned to the rest of his group, who were idly standing by watching the even unfold.

"Why didn't you lot intervene?" he asked.

The rest of the fighters were sitting back, some with food and drink in hand as if they were watching a play unfold. They immediately put on their innocent faces and pretended not to be interested.

"Interrupt a fight between two women with such linear clothing? Are you mad? This is a spectacle to behold!" Winfield responded, fishing another round of ale.

"If it would stop their whining then I say let them be done with it" Zerva sighed, polishing the edge of his scythe.

Ladius sighed, he then noticed that Valeria was still standing, showing no sign of backing down. In fact it looked like her rage had been redirected from Sherufanir to him. He quickly took in breath, ready to bare the bluntness of her rant.

Being childhood friends, he had endured a lot over the years, tonight would be no different.

"Why are you taking her side! If you had any loyalty to Grugund then-"

"I remain loyal to my ethics, besides you chose to follow me" Ladius retorted.

"Only after I saw the demons for myself! I was doing what any respectable general would do! You should be grateful I am here at all! Besides the only explanation you ever gave me was about how important your destiny was!" she snapped.

"In fairness, that's all he ever talks about" Winfield whispered, pouring a fresh glass of ale.

Ladius rubbed his chin, taking in the rant. When he got an opportunity to speak he would apologise and agree with every word she said, it would be slightly degrading; after he did have a destiny to fulfil. Alas, he needed her on his team, and so would just have to take the plunge.

"Oh, now Val, you don't have to be so harsh on Ladius" Sherufanir whined.

Valeria's rant stopped dead in its tracks when a pair of gloved arms threw themselves around Ladius's neck. Shreufanir propped her head by his neck, nuzzling it slightly, never taking her eyes off of the general, who at the moment looked like she was about to physically combust into flames.

"W-W-W-What are you doing? Get your hands off of Ladius!" she squealed.

"He's not yours, I think I'll touch him in whichever way I want" she replied, her fox ears rubbing against the second generation warrior's face.

Winfield spat out the ale he was currently drinking.

"I said unhand him! He is a former noble of Grugund and should not be handled by a rebellious neocolom!" she howled, her face matching the same colour as her hair.

"Former noble? I guess that means he's just another rebellious outsider liked me, maybe we should run off together and have dozens of rebellious outsider children" she grinned.

Winfield spat out another wasted gulp of beer, this time spraying it all over Zerva, who sent him a death glare only a syrium could give. Valeria looked like she was either going to faint from shock or literally detonate like a supernova, engulfing all life in Agarest.

She chose the latter.

"HOW DARE YOU SAY SUCH THINGS ABOUT LADIUS! HE DOESN'T LIKE YOU AT ALL! YOU DON'T KNOW HIM AT ALL! YOU SHOULD BE EXECUTED FOR SAYING SUCH A THING! HE WOULD NEVER FALL FOR A NEOCOLOM! NEVER! NEVER! NEVER!" she howled.

"Wow...she's lost it" Winfield speculated, pouring another drink, which was consequently cut in half by Zerva, spilling its contents all over the immortal gunslinger.

Sherufanir grinned, her plan had worked.

"Wanna bet?" she grinned.

Valeria became dead quiet all at once; face going form blistering red to pale white.

"W-What?"

"I bet that before the final battle, before we all needless die against the hordes of darkness, Ladius will have fallen in love with me" she smirked.

That's when everyone went silent. All eyes fell to Valeria, who was now shaking. Out of fear or rage? It wasn't clear.

"Your call Val, or would lose your man to a filthy neocolom like me?" she smiled, feigning innocence.

It took Valeria a good minute to come up with any kind of response, and when she did, it was exactly what everyone thought it would be.

"FINE! I bet that Ladius will NOT have fallen for a creature such as you! The night before the battle, he will tell everyone his true feelings! Not a moment before or after! Got it!" she barked, still trembling.

"Sure do" she grinned, turning her eyes to the still silent Ladius.

"_I won't die before I make you mine, you're too good a prize to kept by that general, I'll show you what real love is" _she thought to herself.

"I'm looking forward to this" she grinned.

Then she turned in for the night...after leaving a kiss on Ladius's ear.

* * *

><p>The son of Leonhardt, the brave protector who was going to give his very soul to defend his homeland, was stunned. He looked around at the gathering crowd, who were just as shocked as he was.<p>

"What just happened?"


End file.
